Murder in Mayfair, page 12
“You were the one who went into Silverton’s apartment and shot him. Then you were the one who left one of your dog’s hairs on top of the wound, and left a feather from your jacket, to make sure it would lead us straight to you.”
“I didn’t!” Chantelle shouted back.
“Then you were the one who called Sara and asked her to cover for you, which she did since you’d been best friends for decades.”
“Lies! All lies!”
“Then you were the one who got rid of your own motive by withdrawing your name for contention for the job, all to make it look like Federico was the killer, when the reality is you shot Andrew Silverton.”
“You’re making it all up!” Chantelle shouted.
“And then you’re the one who left a forty-five millimeter pistol in Federico Antonini’s apartment for us to find so we would think he was the killer.”
“Ha, it was a nine millimeter gun that killed Silverton, so I couldn’t have done it!” Chantelle shouted, and Violet stood up, a satisfied grin on her face.
“How did you know it was a nine millimeter if you were not there?”
Chantelle stopped, her face contorted in a horrified expression as she realized what she had just said. “You…you said it earlier.”
“No, I did not,” Violet replied.
“Well, I must have found out about it some other way.”
“No one outside the police, Violet, and Cassie knows the caliber of the murder weapon,” DCI Williams chimed in.
Chantelle gaped at Violet for a moment. “You tricked me! You stupid bitch, you tricked me! I was getting away with it, too. You were never supposed to investigate this. It should have just been those idiot detectives, who didn’t even spot the camera in the candle. Even your dumb friend here just let me walk out of the room with it. You weren’t supposed to figure it out. Federico was supposed to suffer, and I was going to go to Rome and find the horde of coins Silverton had discovered. He was paranoid; he never wrote down where they were. But I saw him find an ancient home, watching him on the webcam. He knew exactly where it was, and he spoke out the coordinates as he memorized them. I knew where he was going, and I just had to kill him. And I came so close to getting away with it, but then you just had to go ahead and ruin everything.”
DCI Williams had stood up now and was unclipping the handcuffs from his belt, ready to take Chantelle Armitage into custody. But before he had a chance to, Chantelle reached over, smashed the glass covering the knife in the display case, and lunged at Violet.
“No!” I shouted as the scene unfolded in front of me as though in slow motion.
Violet saw the attack coming and twisted her body to move out of the way, but Chantelle had momentum, and the knife sliced straight through Violet’s abdomen. I stood up and shouted as blood spurted from Violet and she fell to the floor.
DCI Williams jumped up from his seat and immediately tackled Chantelle Armitage to the ground, while I immediately clambered over to Violet, who was now bleeding profusely onto the carpet. If I didn’t stop the bleeding now, she was going to die.
“Call 9-9-9,” I shouted to Mark, who sat glued to his chair, stunned. He nodded, pulling out his phone immediately and dialing the number. Violet was groaning slightly, and I knew I had to act. She was losing blood so quickly there was no way she was going to survive until an ambulance arrived, and an abdominal tourniquet was specialized medical equipment that couldn’t be MacGyvered easily like one for the extremities could be.
I looked over at Federico. “I need something hot, and a knife, or an iron or something, and I need it now. And alcohol.”
To his credit, Federico immediately nodded and jumped out of his chair.
“Hang on, Violet,” I said frantically as I watched her blood pool into the carpet. “You’re going to be fine.”
I really hoped I wasn’t lying.
About two minutes later Federico returned. He had a bottle of hand sanitizer, a Swiss Army knife, and a clothes iron.
“You are lucky that I am Italian; I am always prepared in case my clothes require a quick touch-up in the middle of the day,” he said, plugging the latter into the wall.
“Perfect,” I said, dripping hand sanitizer all over the Swiss Army knife to sanitize it. “I need you to stop moving,” I said to Violet. “I need to see where the wound is.”
Violet obeyed, her face pale. I gulped hard as I realized what I was going to have to do. Luckily, right around then Violet’s eyes closed; she was unconscious. That was probably for the best, to be honest.
“I need you to hold her down in case she wakes up,” I said to Federico, who immediately obeyed. He looked paler than Violet right now, but he still moved to the other side of her and held her shoulders down.
“Like this?”
“Hold her arms down too, if you can.”
Federico moved his hands down so he held Violet by the upper shoulders, and I took the Swiss Army knife and used it to pry open the wound to have a look.
I was quick to conclude that Violet was insanely lucky. Her left renal vein had been cut; she was only inches away from having it be her aorta or inferior vena cava, both of which would have led to instant death. But with this vein, she had probably around four minutes from stab wound to losing forty percent of her blood, after which it would become almost impossible for her to survive.
I quickly spotted where the nick in the vein was, grabbed the iron, and pressed the Swiss Army knife against it. I was going to need some heat.
Those few seconds were the only time I had to really think about what I was about to do. The only seconds I had to panic, to wonder if I really could do this. To think about all of those nightmares I’d had, and to ask myself if I could overcome them.
But the thing was, I didn’t have any of those thoughts. As soon as I knew what had to happen all of my training came back and I was entirely focused on my patient.
Of course, there were about ten thousand reasons why this wasn’t an ideal situation, and I wasn’t a trauma surgeon, but I knew what I had to do and I was going to do it. Violet was just lucky she was unconscious, because this was going to hurt.
When the blade was hot, but not so hot it began to change color, I looked at Federico.
“This is going to hurt her. If she wakes up, I need you to hold her still. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded firmly. “Yes.”
I hoped he was right. More than that, I hoped Violet didn’t wake up until after I was finished.
I pried open the wound with my finger, found the spot I wanted to cauterize, and quickly placed the hot knife right on it. I held it for one, two seconds. No longer; longer than that and I risked killing some of the nearby tissue. I took the knife off, and the wound was sealed. Violet hadn’t even woken up.
“Is she going to live?” Federico asked, probably noticing the palpable relief on my face.
“I think so,” I said right as Theresa ran back into the room, holding up a first aid kit.
“I found this,” she said. “The porter had one. Do you need help patching her up?”
“Yes,” I replied gratefully. For the next couple of minutes I did my best to sterilize the wound and keep Violet stable until the paramedics arrived.
Chapter 21
It wasn’t until the paramedics had left with Violet on the stretcher that I took the time to take in the scene around me.
DCI Williams had arrested Chantelle and she was sitting in the corner, tears streaming down her face. He had also collected the knife with an evidence bag and was now on the phone, probably calling for backup. As soon as he spotted me free, he came over, concern etched all over his face.
“Is she going to be ok?”
“I think so,” I replied. “I told them to take her to Royal London; Brianne is working there right now. If anyone will make sure Violet gets the best care, she will.”
“Good,” DCI Williams replied with a curt nod. “I’m glad to hear it. You saved her life, you know.”
“Funnily enough, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
“You’re an excellent friend.”
“Maybe that’s why she likes me; I know how to perform surgery in the field.”
DCI Williams laughed. “Maybe. But you are good; I was very impressed.”
Just then four uniformed police officers strode into the room and DCI Williams set about getting all the police stuff in order. I ended up collapsing in one of the chairs, and a moment later found myself being offered a cookie.
“Biscuit?” a kind voice asked, and I looked up to see Theresa smiling down at me.
“Thanks,” I said gratefully. “Where on earth did you get these?”
“When the paramedics arrived it got a bit busy in here, so I went off and found a little shop that sold them. I told them we needed them for emergency purposes, so they gave me a whole bag.”
I laughed. “Good thinking. I know I appreciate it right now. Now, not to be rude or anything, but why are you here for this, anyway?”
“Oh, I’ve been keeping in touch with Violet. After all, Andrew was a neighbor of mine, and I quite liked him. I got her to promise that she’d let me see her take down the person who killed him, and she kept that promise.”
I laughed. It would be a very Violet thing to let a random stranger watch the takedown of a suspect because she was interested.
“Well, I hope it was everything you wished for.”
“Apart from Violet being stabbed, yes. I do hope she’s going to be alright.”
“I think she will be,” I replied. “Would you like to come to the hospital with me? She’ll be in surgery for a while still, I’m fairly certain, since that wound is going to need more than what I did to it, but we can be there when she wakes up.”
“I would like that,” Theresa said.
I got up and the two of us took a taxi to the Royal London Hospital, where sure enough Violet was still in surgery. Theresa and I settled ourselves in until finally Violet was brought back to her bed and we were allowed to wait with her until she woke up.
Her eyes finally fluttered open about an hour after being brought in.
“You’re awake,” I said, and Violet nodded.
“Yes, I am. Has Chantelle Armitage been taken into custody?”
“She has. As soon as she stabbed you, DCI Williams took her down. I guess she’s going down for the murder and for your attempted murder. You came really close to bleeding out on the floor, there.”
“It is alright, that is why I have a good surgeon.”
“You’re just lucky you had passed out by the time I managed to cauterize the wound,” I replied.
“Ah yes, I do have a lot of pain in my abdomen still,” Violet said with a weak smile. “I suspect it will be some time before I am back to my normal level of activity.”
“Well, I just wanted to come by and thank you for giving an old lady who loves her murder mysteries on the telly a look into the reality of it,” Theresa said, standing up. “I do hope you’re going to be alright.”
“I will be fine, do not worry. I have been stabbed worse than this in the past. I do hope you enjoyed the show.”
“I felt like a character in a Poirot episode, and you couldn’t have made me happier,” Theresa said with a wink. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will, thank you,” Violet said. And with that, Theresa left the room, leaving Violet and me alone.
Violet looked at me. “I am going to assume that I get to thank you once more for saving my life.”
“Well, and Federico,” I explained. “He was the one who got the Swiss Army knife and the iron for me to heat it up. It was also his job to stop you from punching me in case you woke up when I cauterized the wound.”
“What did she hit?”
“Your left renal artery.”
Violet groaned slightly. “No wonder that hurts so much. But it could have been a lot worse.”
“Yes, it could have.”
Just then a doctor came into the room, dressed in scrubs.
“Violet Despuis, I’m Dr. Keenan. I’m the one who did the surgery on you. How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but nothing that will not go away.”
“Good. You’re very lucky that Dr. Coburn here was with you when you were stabbed; the paramedics told me she’s the one who cauterized your wound and saved your life.”
“Yes, she has done so a couple of times now.”
“Well, you’re going to have to slow down for a few weeks, but I’m not anticipating any complications from the surgery. Everything went very well. I’ll have a nurse come in shortly and give you something more for the pain.”
“Thank you, docteur,” Violet said with a smile, and Dr. Keenan nodded and left the room.
“I guess you’re lucky you didn’t have any interesting cases then,” I said to Violet with a grin. “You’re not going to be able to go out and about anytime soon.”
“You forget that the most valuable part of my body is not my legs or my arms but my brain,” Violet said. “It would simply be an extra challenge to have to solve cases from the comfort of my bed.”
I laughed. “Of course. Anyway, if you do come across an interesting case, and you need someone to do the legwork, please let me know. As long as there’s nothing illegal involved, I’ll do it.”
Violet smiled. “Thank you for the kind offer. I might take you up on it. Although perhaps I should take simple cases on more often. After all, this one was supposed to be open-and-shut, and it ended up being a little bit fun after all.”
“Yeah, speaking of, how did you figure out that Chantelle was the killer, and that the alibi didn’t work out?”
Violet smiled. “I knew immediately that Chantelle’s alibi was false; you were the one who automatically believed it and so moved to Federico as a suspect. I knew it was her the entire time, but it was a matter of proving it.”
My mouth dropped open. “Really? Why did you let me go around convinced it was Federico, then?”
“It was not up to me to alter your view if you did not see the truth. Besides, a different perspective can be helpful on a case.”
“So you saw it right away. Was that when you knew Chantelle was the killer?”
“Yes,” Violet replied. “After all, her friend lied, and she lied, and they both had obviously done so on purpose, and the alibi would not have worked on any other day, which led me to believe Chantelle was the killer after all. She had planned everything meticulously. Then it was a matter of figuring out why. I decided to allow her to lead us to the person she wanted us to believe was the killer. I assumed it would be related to love and relationships, and I was correct.”
“Did you think she was lying to us about the relationship with Federico?”
“Not necessarily,” Violet replied. “After all, something must have happened to make Chantelle want to frame Federico for the murder. And I did not know for certain why she killed Andrew Silverton in the first place. A small raise of ten thousand a year would have been very borderline motive for murder. But once you sent through the pictures of the documents that Silverton had been working on, I figured it out. And of course, I knew about the camera.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, if I had, you would not necessarily have made it out of that office alive,” Violet replied. “You took her at her word because it was a believable story, but if you had fought her she likely would have done her best to kill you, too.”
“That’s a comforting thought,” I muttered.
“When you found the murder weapon in Federico’s home, I was one hundred percent convinced that Chantelle had done it. After all, Federico told us he had virtually zero interest in architecture, and yet the gun was found in a book on that very topic. Why would he have books on it if he did not care for it at all? He wouldn’t, but Chantelle would.”
“So basically every single one of my assumptions was wrong.”
“No, only one of your assumptions: that the time on the security camera was correct. And from there you made all of the details fit to your assumption rather than letting the facts speak for themselves. Do not feel bad; almost everybody functions in the same way. And at least you had come to a conclusion. The police were completely lost.”
“I mean, is being wrong better than having no idea at all?”
“It shows more creativity, if nothing else.”
I supposed I could take that.
“So was Federico telling the truth? Or was Chantelle?”
“I still do not know, but I am tempted to believe Federico’s version of events,” Violet said. “Chantelle has lied at every point in this investigation, whereas I have no proof that Federico has been anything other than honest with us. And I did find proof that his wife died, as he told us.”
“Ok,” I said, nodding. “That’s pretty psychopathic, though, to kill someone and frame your spurned wannabe-lover for the murder.”
“It was a very cold move,” Violet agreed. “But Chantelle had it all planned out. She would wait a period of time to make it appear less suspicious before going to Rome, where she would find the remains of the home where Silverton was certain there were abandoned coins and treasures.”
“Do you think there’s actually stuff there?”
“There may very well be,” Violet replied. “Unless we are able to get the coordinates from Chantelle, we may never know. I suspect Silverton likely destroyed whatever he found that confirmed where the treasures would be once he had the coordinates himself. But Silverton and Chantelle Armitage both believed there would be treasure at the location.”
“Well, I’m glad you decided to take on this case and bring me in on it,” I said.
“As am I,” Violet replied. “How did your appointment with Fiona go?”
“Good,” I said, nodding. “We’ve come up with a plan to get me to work through the fear that’s likely causing my nightmares. Although I won’t lie, the fact that I managed to successfully do surgery on you in the middle of a university conference room is a pretty big confidence booster. I can do surgery without killing people.”
